First National Bank, Breckenridge, MN (Charter 4644)

ca. 1916 Postcard of the First National Bank (far right)

First National Bank, Breckenridge, MN (Chartered 1891 - Closed (Merger) 1995)

Town History

Breckenridge is the county seat of Wilkin County in west central Minnesota. Breckenridge's twin city is Wahpeton, North Dakota, just across the Red River.

Breckenridge was platted in 1857, and named for John Cabell Breckinridge, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, and fourteenth Vice President of the United States. Breckenridge was also a Major General in the Confederate Army. A post office has been in operation at Breckenridge since 1857. The town was incorporated in 1908.

During the National Bank Note Era, the population of Breckenridge was 655 in 1890, growing to 2,261 in 1930. It's highest population was 4,335 in 1960, and the current population is estimated at 3,199 (2018).

Breckenridge had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

• Organized Oct 7, 1891
• Chartered Oct 13, 1891
• Succeeded Wilkin County Bank
• Absorbed 6259 Dec 14, 1929 (First National Bank, Campbell, MN)
• Bank was Open past 1935
• For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
• Merged into Community First NB in Fergus Falls, MN Jan 3, 1995

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The First National Bank of Breckenridge, MN

Bank Note Types Issued

1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of F.W. Johnson, Cashier and H.L. Shirley, Vice-President

1929 Type 1 $10 bank note with printed signatures of F.W. Johnson, Cashier and H.L. Shirley, Vice-President. Courtesy Heritage Auctions, https://HA.com

A total of $205,720 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1891 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 16,514 notes (14,192 large size and 2,322 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 1410
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 206
1902 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 950
1902 Plain Back	3x10-20	951 - 1932
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 302
1929 Type 1	6x20	1 - 85

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

First National Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1891 - 1936):

Presidents:

• Frederick Eugene Kenaston, 1892-1915
• Halvor L. Shirley, 1916-1935

Cashiers:

• Ransom Phelps, 1892-1893
• Howard Dykman, 1894-1904
• Frederick William Johnson, 1905-1932
• I. C. Larsen, 1933-1935

Other Known Bank Note Signers

• No other known bank note signers for this bank

Bank Note History Links

• First National Bank, Breckenridge, MN History (NB Lookup)
• Minnesota Bank Note History (BNH Wiki)

Sources

• Breckenridge, MN, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckenridge,_Minnesota
• FDIC Bank Find History website. https://research2.fdic.gov/bankfind/index.html
• Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
• Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
• Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project